When I first met Perry, I had no idea the level insight and expression he would bring to my business. I am very unfamiliar with tech and the possibilities that could be brought to the day to day processes that occur with my clientele. He studied my business as well as its flow and guided / educated me on how he would streamline things like forms, POS and calendar integration to name a few. He is able to lace art and technology in such a way that every time I sit with a prospective client they comment on the beauty and ease of the wonderful website that Perry created. This has been vital to me because his passion has expressed my life’s work in a way that I could never have expected. I don’t have to feel like a salesman, people come in to meet me just to reinforce that the feel that they experienced from the website is real.Sifu Keller, Great Way Martial Arts

Goal

To showcase the uniqueness of Great Way, kung fu, and the style of teaching.

Approach

There are a lot of martial arts schools in Longmont, but Great Way is unique in that it truly focuses on the spiritual aspect of kung fu as well as the physical. A lot of other schools advertise this, but not many really do it. Meditation is part of many classes and students are strongly encouraged to practice on their own.

Kung fu in general is based on animal forms (tiger, leopard, mantis, crane, etc.). Although we didn't overdo it, I did want to bring that history in on the home page to set the stage for the rest of the site.

This isn't the sort of school where we want them to sign up right away and get their 'free class'. We've emphasized the importance of just coming in for a one and one chat with the Sifu, and the recurring call-to-action 'Book Appointment' brings you to a form where you can set up a time to meet. This is a big change from the typical site which has no reliable way to contact them versus calling — a strange practice as often times the phone interrupts class in many schools.

Goal

To give an accurate portrayal of what one can expect from class.

Approach

New students are always welcome, but even with a student teacher ratio of 4:1 or better, new students change the class to some degree until they get up to speed. It's common for all martial arts and fitness studios to have people try and leave. And while that's fine (Great Way also has no contracts), it's better to spend time with students more likely to stay.

To address that, Great Way not only talks about the advantages of their classes, but also some of the expectations. The classes aren't as intense as Crossfit, but there is a big fitness element to them. Even the youngest students end up doing pull ups and dozens (if not hundreds) of pushups and situps throughout the class. Fitness and strength are a vital (if often ignored) aspect of martial arts and it's nice to warn people about that right away.

Chinese medicine has become an important part of the practice as well. As fierce as the workouts can be, injuries happen (especially to the over 30 crowd). Acupuncture and herbs can go a long way toward getting someone back into class the next day. It's become a commonly relied on tool for many athletes.

This is one of the few sites where I was responsible for the photography. I don't sell myself as a photographer, but can use a camera when needed.

Goal

To highlight the community aspect of Great Way and have an organic, often-updated site.

Approach

Great Way is a family-owned, local martial arts school taught by a sifu who has been practicing for dozens of years. It is not a franchise, and we wanted to reflect that.

We highlighted the philosophy, which also goes a long ways toward our first goal (emphasizing the uniqueness). The logo predated my involvement, but it's based on an ancient symbol that has some actual meaning to it, and the story behind it is an important one.

Great Way can manage a lot of the changing elements of the site by themselves, including the staff, FAQs, and events. Basically, if it's going to change more than once a year, they can manage it.

At the time of going live, there were no events, but that's another unique aspect to this site (and the kwoon). There are many events through the year ranging from belt-testing to community BBQs. And the community is quite tight, everyone knows everyone. Our kids play together on the weekends, we camp together, vacation together, watch each other's dogs, etc. Events is a good way to show how Great Way is different.

Goal

Make it easy to sign waivers, sign up, view the schedule, etc.

Approach

The administrative side of running a martial arts studio is usually ignored because it's not typically the gift of the sort of people who run them. We used Wufoo to handle the forms so that we could collect waivers, allow people to subscribe to classes (automatic monthly withdrawal), and schedule private meetings with the Sifu.

Besides Wufoo, we used Stripe and Square to help modernize the school to take credit cards easier and allow for online ecommerce.

The forms are external from the site. It's not ideal, but it's within the budget and allows us to keep the site simple. The nav reflects the different sections of the site. Services, info, and the external forms they might want.